Volendam in Alaska June 1-15, Ship Review

[CC Help Michell]

Hi, folks! So many of the posts here were helpful to me in planning our Alaskan cruise on the Volendam from June 1-15 that I wanted to post part of my full review (I've submitted it to CC for the member review section) here as it related to the Volendam herself. I'll be posting our excursion reviews on the Alaska board. Hope this helps someone out there, and I'll be glad to answer any questions folks have.

 

Background information: We are a couple in our 40’s. This was our first trip to Alaska, and the first cruise on Holland America for each of us. We are experienced cruisers, and between the two of us, generally my SO leaves the planning to me after voicing a few preferences for activities and budget – and I’m the avid planner and researcher for our trips. I’m also the Cruise Critic addict. In January of this year I was researching a land-based visit to Alaska for the summer of ’09 when I spotted the 14-day itineraries offered by HAL this summer. Much to my delight, my SO agreed with me that HAL was offering an excellent deal, so we booked and sailed on the Volendam from June 1 – 15, departing from Vancouver, turning around at Seward, and returning to Vancouver.

 

Overall conclusion: Alaska is an unforgettable place, and unlike any other place we have visited. So many aspects of the state come to mind as I write – the glaciers, the wildlife, the endless variety of scenery, the friendly people, the long (LONG) days, the different colors of the water, the sounds – all I can say is that we look forward to returning again! We were quite pleased with our excursion choices. The Alaska Ports of Call board here at CC was indispensable in helping us make the most of our shore visits. We also enjoyed our experience onboard the Volendam very much, and will absolutely sail HAL again if the itinerary and price meet our needs. This cruise didn’t change our overall opinion that, for our purposes, the mainstream cruise lines are more alike than different. That said, we did see and appreciate very real differences in service, onboard activities, overall “feel,” and several other areas between HAL and other lines we’ve sailed, separately or together (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL, NCLA, and a couple of lines no longer in business).

 

.....

 

The ship -- herself: The Volendam was just two weeks out of dry dock, although the carpets, furniture, cabins, etc. appeared to be showing normal wear and tear, so perhaps this was more of a systems/behind-the-scenes drydock visit. I liked the size of this ship very much – while she doesn’t have every “bell and whistle” offered by newer, larger ships, she does have most of the central features I enjoy on a cruise ship, such as a good-sized show room and restaurant, a well-equipped gym, a couple of pools, several bars, etc. We LOVED the bow being accessible for this Alaska itinerary – simply awesome views from there, and we also were big fans of the aft Lido deck. The Crow’s Nest also offers wonderful views, and we really liked the Explorations Café space on Deck Five. She's a great ship for viewing Alaska.

 

We enjoyed many of the onboard activities, as well. We saw movies in the Wajang Theater (complete with popcorn), and I attended a few activities in the Culinary Arts Center, as well as taking a cooking class with Scott, the Executive Chef in the Pinnacle Grill, which was very fun and worth the price. The trivia games were a lot of fun, as well – we won a few trinkets there during the cruise. We aren’t shopaholics, so we skipped the shopping “ambassador’s” spiels and “guarantees.” The onboard cultural expert’s talks were interesting, and we attended one as well as watching those replayed on the cabin TV.

 

The ship – our cabin: We had cabin 7086, known here at CC as one of the “secret” cabins on the R class HAL ships. This is priced as an inside cabin (because it lacks a bathtub), but it’s also sort of an ocean view (because it has a window), and sort of an aft balcony cabin, if you don’t mind having to get dressed to enjoy “your” balcony (because out your cabin door you can turn left and immediately go through a fire door and exit door onto a wide public balcony running the width of the ship). The price makes this cabin a great bargain, and we really liked this cabin a lot – for the 2 of us it was just fine. Half the couch is in an alcove and so basically unusable, which wasn’t a biggie, as we piled luggage down at that end. The TV (someone asked me this here, so I’m posting it) is still on the countertop instead of mounted from the wall, which cuts the available counter space rather significantly, but we were able to manage without much trouble. Best of all was being so close to an outside deck – either the port-to-starboard Navigation deck outside our cabin, or we could go up one flight of steps to the aft Lido deck. When Captain Bos made of one of his famous announcements – “a pod of dolphins on the port side,” or “a grizzly bear and cubs at about 3 o’clock to starboard,” – we were able to be outside and looking in seconds.

 

The bed was extremely comfortable, the linens were wonderful, and we loved the DVD player in our cabin (we’d brought our own DVDs we wanted to catch up on – so we cruised Alaska while watching “Dexter” and “Scrubs” in our cabin!). Air conditioning problems have been reported before on the Volendam, and we felt that ours didn’t work very well. The cabin was too warm even with the AC on the lowest setting, but our steward Yudi brought us a fan the first day and that kept enough air moving that it was comfortable in chilly Alaska. I’m not sure how it would work out for the Caribbean, though.

 

The ship -- entertainment: We attended the Franz Hals Lounge show on the first night of the 14 day cruise, called “Let us Entertain You.” Probably the best way to sum up our reaction is to say that the only other show we attended there, which was not until week 2, was comedian Lee Bayless’ show, as we’d heard some good things about his jokes about the cruise ship experience – he was okay. I want to stress that neither of the shows we saw were awful. They just weren’t that entertaining to us. We also heard Elizabeth and the HAL Cats here and there – they are all talented people, but the lido deck is an unfortunate placement for them when the roof is closed – the sound is reflected and it just sounds like the singer is shouting over too-loud instruments. They were more enjoyable in the Crow’s Nest in the evenings, by far.

 

Fortunately for us, entertainer Randall Powell, who has a number of fans here at CC, is on the Volendam this summer and through her trip to the South Pacific/NZ/Australia this fall. We sort of stumbled onto Randall briefly on night one of the cruise, but the next night, after our CC gathering, one of his long-time friends who happened to be part of our roll call intercepted us and introduced us to him in the Piano Bar. We played Name that Tune that night with those newfound CC friends, and I think for the rest of the 14-day cruise we only missed maybe 2 nights in the piano bar. Sitting in a “regular” piano bar listening to someone cover standards wouldn’t be on our agenda, but Randall’s showmanship, and his games and activities, just made it compelling and not to be missed for us. Just over 1/3 of our shipboard transactions were purchases at the piano bar, and the room was packed every night, including 25-40 folding chairs. I have to say that we’d have had a great vacation in Alaska even without finding Randall, but because of him we really enjoyed our evenings on board ship, which helped make this vacation even better. I hope HAL appreciates what an asset Randall is (I think they do, based on comments heard at our CC gathering from management).

 

The ship – spa and salon: After reading reports at CC about the thermal suites on HAL ships, we decided to purchase this for the first week of our cruise ($160 per couple). We really enjoyed this service, especially as I have a bad back and all that moist heat helped me recover from travel stress and from our port days during week one. We chose not to re-book this for the second week to save a bit of money, and because we didn’t really care for the configuration of this space. The thermal couches on the Volendam look out the side of the ship, and face a publicly accessible deck area immediately outside the suite’s windows, so people enjoying the exterior deck frequently blocked the “scenic view” from the couches. The thermal pool (really a large hot tub) is nice, though, and has a beautiful view forward – it was fun to sail through Glacier Bay while relaxing in the thermal pool!

 

I won a “mini-facial” at the day one drawing for our cruise, and found it very relaxing and non-high-pressure sales tactics. The aesthetician was competent, didn’t try to sell me things, and I appreciated that. The spa area itself is very nice with beautiful views. If I were a spa/salon/massage type person at home, I’d have been very happy in that space on the Volendam. It’s very beautiful and the people are quite nice.

 

The ship – laundry: The Volendam has self-serve laundry rooms on decks 1, 2, and 6. Because of the length of our trip, we’d planned to do laundry about halfway through. The cost is $2.00 for the washer (which includes the marine safe detergent you have to use) for a tiny washing machine load – it will hold maybe 4-5 pairs of jeans, or 3 pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts. The dryer is $1.00, and is larger – it will hold two loads of wash. You have to use quarters or 25-cent casino tokens in the machines.

 

That sounds like it’s pretty straightforward, but the number of out of order and missing machines made doing laundry a real ordeal – most of the rooms only had three or so functional machines. Because so many people were either going on to land vacations, had boarded from land vacations, or were cruising back to back, the laundries were very popular and crowded. I walked into one to hear one woman literally yelling at another one “I was here first and you can just leave.” I tried over a couple of days to find a room that wasn’t jam-packed and finally found one at 10:00 PM one night, where I waited for one couple’s wash to finish so that I could do one load of socks and undies in a machine. Then I stuffed the rest of the dirty things in a HAL laundry bag and put it out to be done by the ship for $12. Next time they can wash it all – I won’t ever again count on reasonably available self-service laundry on HAL. It’s a nice idea, but if they don’t maintain the machines it’s really more of a stress-generator than a useful amenity.

 

The ship – food, wine and beer: I have posted here at CC before, and will repeat, we are not “foodies.” We aren’t gourmets, we rarely drink wine at home, and we are generally pleased by the fare on most cruise lines whether in the buffet or the dining room. We thought the food on the Volendam was very good to excellent, and we enjoyed our 20 glasses of wine card (so much we didn’t have any punches left to put in our cabin Bible)! Food is so subjective that I will only make a few random statements about it, rather than reviewing each meal, with the caveat that this is OUR reaction only, and yours might be 180 degrees different.

 

1) We enjoyed our meal in the Pinnacle Grill. I had the ribeye and SO had the filet, and both were exceptional. Our favorite side dish was the mushrooms, and for dessert the chocolate melting cake was also wonderful. The wine steward here made us feel pretty dumb by his reaction to our wine card (the only example of less-than-stellar service we encountered in two weeks, by the way), but that’s life – we didn’t realize that (based on his reaction) apparently offering the wine card in the Pinnacle was ridiculous – good thing he set us straight so we know for next time! (tongue in cheek);

 

2) We thought the dining room food overall was very good to excellent. Items we really enjoyed included the lobster on surf and turf night, the always-available New York strip, the chilled fruit soups, the king crab legs, shrimp cocktail, and the pork roast. We liked the Asian station in the Lido at lunch – they offered very good food there. Overall the desserts were pretty flavorless to us – the only one that stands out to me was the mountain berry crisp I had one evening – that was good. Most of the pastry type items tasted as if they’d been frozen and heated, but that’s not such a bad thing – it kept us from gaining weight on the cruise!

 

3) We like locally brewed beers when we travel, and Northbound we really enjoyed those from the Alaskan label. Southbound, on day 2, the ship ran completely out of any type of local Alaskan-brewed beer. Note, this wasn’t the fault of Harry, the Beverage Manager, who only joined the ship during week 1 of our cruise – but it was still quite annoying, especially as Alaskan has offered an event with HAL this summer involving purchasing Alaskan brews and obtaining stamps onboard;

 

4) I liked the Lido option in the evening if one didn’t feel like getting dressed for the dining room – we used it two times and were quite pleased;

 

5) HAL needs either to enforce the dress code or get rid of it. We adhered to the dress code, and I’d estimate that the majority of the passengers (55-65%) did too, but the effort was basically pointless, based on the attire admitted to the dining room.

 

6) Room service on HAL rocks! They offer great breakfasts, including hot meals, and the ability to order dining room food during dinner hours was super. The club sandwich on the 24 hour menu is yummy!

 

7) I was turned off by one dining room practice on HAL -- the waiters remove flatware and stemware from the table when unnecessary for that diner (which is typical), but then they put it directly into the containers for re-setting the dining tables. I really don’t understand having Purell everywhere onboard, and crew members requiring pax to use it prior to reboarding, then reusing dinnerware without any idea of whether it’s been handled or even put in someone’s mouth. BIG thumb’s down for this practice.

 

8) As You Wish dining worked well for us. We typically had no trouble or significant delay being seated, and we walked in at various times between 5:30 to 8:30 during the 14 days. The first night of the cruise we were given a beeper, but were still seated within 20 minutes, and after that we were seated within 5 minutes or less. Several times we were seated upstairs, in the “fixed dining” room, where we saw many empty tables. Perhaps it’s just the Alaska itinerary, but it definitely seemed on our cruise that AYW was more popular than traditional, by a fair margin.

 

9) The Master Chef’s Dinner was a bust for us. We skipped it in week one, in favor of the Pinnacle Grill, and decided to attend during week two. Requiring everyone to show up at 7:45 and not opening the dining room doors until 8:00 was just an invitation to disaster – I’ll be posting some photos of the cheek to jowl mass of humanity solidly clogging the elevator lobby and all the stairways on Deck Four. It was downright dangerous (and it didn’t improve my mood that the woman in front of me had bathed in perfume and simply reeked). Service quality slipped during the dinner (we received no wine steward attention until our entrees were being delivered to the table), and I didn’t like having the range of choices for two courses restricted because of the “show.” I personally didn’t think the show was enjoyable (it was more like “painful to watch”). Also, maybe I’m overly sanitation aware as an elementary school teacher, but during the baked Alaska parade having people wave their used napkins over their heads, thus flinging the crumbs and such they’ve wiped from their mouths all over the dining room, was just plain gross to me.

 

 

The ship – service: In addition to room service, mentioned above, service is the second area where I really felt HAL is noticeably above other lines we’ve sailed. From our marvelous cabin steward, Yudi, to the front desk who helped me with a few issues as painlessly as possible, to Jose (“Freddy”) and Augustin from the beverage staff, we just felt HAL goes out of their way to try to make everyone feel special. We were on the Navigation Deck, with the Neptune Lounge and the suite pax, and the stewards at that end of the corridor still always had time to say hello and smile as we walked down the hall. Simply put, wonderful people work for HAL. We left our auto-added tips in place, and tipped additional in cash frequently during our stay… and every penny was well earned and well spent.

 

Though not in the same category as tipped service staff, we also appreciated the fact that on the southbound leg our CC meet and greet was joined by Rebecca, the cruise director, and Harry, the beverage manager. We had a good time visiting with them, and really appreciated their taking the time from their busy days to join a small gathering of CC folks. I thank everyone from our roll call that attended the M&Gs in both directions – it was so nice to meet friendly people, and have familiar faces to see during the cruise.

 

I also really appreciated the master on the Volendam, Captain Peter Bos. He obviously loves Alaska, and really enjoys sharing wildlife sightings and such he makes from the bridge. His manner was also very reassuring when the fire alarm sound on the last night of the cruise due to smoke in the Crow’s Nest (it turned out to be easily resolved and the lounge reopened).

 

...............

 

Conclusion -- We enjoyed HAL and will certainly sail her again when the itinerary and price point meet our needs. Please do post any questions about the Volendam in case I can help. :)

[curry767]

As we will be on the Volendam in August, I really enjoyed reading your report - thanks very much.

[CruiseLiz]

I have a question for you -

You said you did laundry at 10:00 pm one evening...do you know when the laundry closes?

 

Thanks!

[TMas777]

Hi MichellP,

Thanks for the review, doing the same trip on June 29th with my wife and 8 yr. son. Great deal for the mariner. Couple questions if I may...

1. Seward- since this our first B2B (cruised HAL before) how is this done? Do you Disembark and reboard leaving your stuff in your room..

2. About how many kids on board (my son would like to know)?

3. Which night is the Master's Chef dinner, since the menu is pretty limited and I'm pretty picky I'm thinking of going to the PG that night...

4. Was it crowded on the bow (I really love going out there in Glacier Bay)

 

Any tips or something you would do differently on this ship/trip....

 

Thanks again....

[2bout2c]

Welcome Home you guys, did you win more prizes after we left? I know you had a great time with Randall.

M & E from Texas

[DFD1]

First rate review. Thanks. The Volendam is one of my favorite ships. Sounds like she's still in find form. Good to hear.

[Robin7]

Thanks, Michelle! Great review. I'm disappointed about the TV, however. I thought they'd move it for sure. (I don't understand why it's there in the first place.) But that nearly private 'verandah' will certainly make up for a lack of 'counter space'.

 

I'm also surprised they didn't do a soft goods (or whatever you call it) upgrade. The couch and chair in our stateroom (3425) last fall were getting threadbare and had stains. The bathroom, while spotlessly clean, also really needed new floor tile and just looked tired. I wonder what they actually did to the ship in drydock???

 

Robin

[CC Help Michell]

I have a question for you -

You said you did laundry at 10:00 pm one evening...do you know when the laundry closes?

 

Thanks!

 

I don't think it ever does. I actually arrived at the room around 9 PM and finished up around 10, and I only remember seeing a sign asking folks to remember that there are cabins nearby and to be quiet in the area so as not to disturb them. There wasn't any sign with hours of operation or anything like that, that I saw. I checked our Daily Programs and no hours were posted for the self-serve laundry rooms, either. Hope that helps!

[Mid-Age]

Thanks MichellP. I really enjoy your review, it really help me for my July tour. I have a few question:

 

1. Are they doing the same show for southbound and northbound?

2. Do you think the Lido desk have room for my DS (8 years old) to get a good spot for the Glacier Bay and College Fjord Cruising? I learn from others that the Lido will be full of passengers at that time.

3. Is the Laundry Room making a lot of noice? My room is not from away from there. (Cross hallway :()

4. Do you remember what movie they are showing on your trip?

 

Again, thanks fro your review.

[CC Help Michell]

Hi MichellP,

Thanks for the review, doing the same trip on June 29th with my wife and 8 yr. son. Great deal for the mariner. Couple questions if I may...

1. Seward- since this our first B2B (cruised HAL before) how is this done? Do you Disembark and reboard leaving your stuff in your room..

2. About how many kids on board (my son would like to know)?

3. Which night is the Master's Chef dinner, since the menu is pretty limited and I'm pretty picky I'm thinking of going to the PG that night...

4. Was it crowded on the bow (I really love going out there in Glacier Bay)

 

Any tips or something you would do differently on this ship/trip....

 

Thanks again....

 

1. Since we kept the same cabin for both legs of the back to back, and there were about 300 people onboard doing the same, the procedure was simple. We received a letter in our cabins stating that we were free to leave the ship at any time during disembarkation the next morning, and to take our passports and ship cards with us. The letter also contained a green "Volendam In Transit" card. Our all aboard time was 7:15 PM (45 minutes prior to sailing time, and 30 min. prior to the muster drill). We didn't have to formally disembark and reboard at all, and could come and go during the day as we wished.

 

2. No announcement was made about numbers of kids onboard, but there were definitely more in week 2 than in week 1 (June 8 versus June 1) and during the week I'd say we saw about 30 elementary age children. That's just a guess, but since I teach that age group I tend to notice them. :)

 

3. Both directions the Master Chef's dinner was the last night of the cruise, prior to disembarkation. The fixed choices were in the soup and salad course (you received a salad) and in desserts (you received Baked Alaska). You did get 5 or so choices for the appetizer and entree courses.

 

4. There were a good many people at the bow in Glacier Bay, but it's such a roomy area, and there are these box things that people can stand on for better sight lines, it really didn't feel crowded. I still have to do my photo arranging, sorting and uploading, but hopefully I'll have a few of the bow in Glacier Bay to share.

 

Anything I'd do differently? I'd skip the Master Chef's dinner. ;) I'd go to more of the Culinary Arts demonstrations and maybe take a second class -- I really enjoyed that. Anything else was pretty minor -- like we forgot the Mariner's luncheon the second week.... stuff like that. Overall we really had a great time and were pleased with how we spent our time. I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip!

[CC Help Michell]

Welcome Home you guys, did you win more prizes after we left? I know you had a great time with Randall.

M & E from Texas

 

Hi, M & E!

 

We won a few more prizes -- we played with "Lena and Ole" most nights in the Piano Bar and had a great time, including staying up WAY too late yarning and sharing music a few nights. We did play trivia a few times in week 2, and one afternoon the theme was cruise ship and cruise line trivia -- I sort of enjoyed that one! :D

 

Are you already packing for the Eurodam? I can't wait to read your reports about it. It was so nice to meet you and E -- now I feel like we're old friends and I'll be following your travels!

[CC Help Michell]

Thanks MichellP. I really enjoy your review, it really help me for my July tour. I have a few question:

 

1. Are they doing the same show for southbound and northbound?

2. Do you think the Lido desk have room for my DS (8 years old) to get a good spot for the Glacier Bay and College Fjord Cruising? I learn from others that the Lido will be full of passengers at that time.

3. Is the Laundry Room making a lot of noice? My room is not from away from there. (Cross hallway :()

4. Do you remember what movie they are showing on your trip?

 

Again, thanks fro your review.

 

1. No, it wasn't exactly the same, but there was some overlap. Here are the evening activities in the Franz Hals Lounge (taken from the Daily Program and listed in order for the seven days in each direction):

 

Northbound: 1) Let us Entertain You (Volendam singers and dancers, and ventriloquist Phil Hughes), 2) H2Oh! (Volendam singers and dancers), 3) Comedian Lee Bayless, 4) Movie "The Bucket List" and Filipino Crew Show, 5) Comedian Steven J. Daniels, 6) Southern Nights (Volendam singers and dancers), 7) Farewell Variety show featuring Phil Hughes and Steven J. Daniels.

 

Southbound: 1) Let us Entertain You (Volendam singers and dancers, and ventriloquist Phil Hughes), 2) Gold (Volendam singers and dancers), 3) Steven J. Daniels, 4) Movie "Vantage Point" and Indonesian Crew Show, 5) Comedian Lee Bayless, 6) H2Oh! (Volendam singers and dancers), 7) Farewell Variety Show featuring Phil Hughes and Lee Bayless.

 

2) Were you looking for a spot on the interior Lido deck (by the pool, under the retractable roof), or outside in the uncovered aft area? To be honest I didn't make it inside the pool area while were in Glacier Bay, but there was a lot of room on the aft lido deck and people move around very often -- you are there for hours, so your child should have plenty of chances to see the glaciers.

 

3) The actual machines didn't seem that noisy to me (especially when the door to the laundry room was closed), but people can be a bit loud in the area (despite the signs asking them to be aware of others). Hopefully you won't have the shouting woman I saw on my cruise in the laundry room near you! :)

 

4) In addition to the movies listed above as big screeners in the Franz Hals lounge, they also showed movies in the Wajang Theater -- 27 Dresses, P.S. I Love You, Jumper, Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Charlie Wilson's War, National Treasure 2, Atonement, The Other Boleyn Girl, Fool's Gold, 10,000 BC, Definitely, Maybe, College Road Trip, The Bucket List, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. There were also movies available on the in-cabin televisions.

 

I hope that helps and that you have a great trip! :)

[Mid-Age]

Thanks Michell for answering all the questions. I appreciate it. It really help my planing and knowing what to expect. :)

 

July 13 is my date. Can not wait. :D

[Rabbitlady]

MichellP,

Your review was just great! I am also an elementary school teacher and my hubby and I like to go to the Trivia games, etc. We wound up booking this cruise because it was much cheaper than a land vacation.

I also appreciate the info you provided us about open seating dining.

It was so much fun reading your review and answers to posters' questions.

Rabbitlady:)

[ehogan]

Thanks, Michellp. We are going on the Volendam on August 24 for the BtoB, so your review is really helpful.

 

Could you tell me what the charge is for the Pinnacle restaurant and how far in advance you made reservations?

 

Thanks

[CC Help Michell]

Thanks, Michellp. We are going on the Volendam on August 24 for the BtoB, so your review is really helpful.

 

Could you tell me what the charge is for the Pinnacle restaurant and how far in advance you made reservations?

 

Thanks

 

The charge is $20 per person, and we booked it ahead of time on the website under Onboard Gifts about a month before sailing. You can make reservations onboard the ship, though. In fact we changed our reservation date once onboard, and it was no problem. The restaurant never seemed crowded during our cruise. Have a great time!

[superbrat]

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on the Volendam on Aug.24 for the first time and really enjoyed hearing about what we can expect.

[kayden]

Great review, thanks for posting!

[CruiseLiz]

I don't think it ever does. I actually arrived at the room around 9 PM and finished up around 10, and I only remember seeing a sign asking folks to remember that there are cabins nearby and to be quiet in the area so as not to disturb them. There wasn't any sign with hours of operation or anything like that, that I saw. I checked our Daily Programs and no hours were posted for the self-serve laundry rooms, either. Hope that helps!

 

Thanks, that helps a lot. I've found that night time (after dinner and a maybe a show) is the best time to do laundry on a ship. Most people are out having a party and I'm folding socks :D

[jeriram]

MichellP - Thanks for the great review. We are leaving on the 29th - just a few days from now on the Volendam! Just a couple of questions - Which nights were the formal nights? Also, which day do they have the special high tea? Thanks for your help.

[CC Help Michell]

MichellP - Thanks for the great review. We are leaving on the 29th - just a few days from now on the Volendam! Just a couple of questions - Which nights were the formal nights? Also, which day do they have the special high tea? Thanks for your help.

 

The Northbound formal nights were day 2 (inside passage sailing) and day 6 (Glacier Bay). Southbound it was day 2 (College Fjord) and day 5 (Juneau -- on day 6 southbound we were in Ketchikan until 7:30 PM).

 

According to the dailies, both northbound and southbound the Royal Dutch high tea was offered on day 2, and the Indonesian Tea Ceremony was on day 7 (the other days just show afternoon tea).

 

I hope that helps and that you have a marvelous time!

[Rabbitlady]

What's the Indonesian Tea Ceremony?

 

Thanks for the info,

Rabbitlady

[CC Help Michell]

What's the Indonesian Tea Ceremony?

 

Thanks for the info,

Rabbitlady

 

Oh sorry that I just now saw this question, Rabbitlady. I don't actually know what it is. :) Every afternoon they had tea -- and twice they had special teas, as I mentioned above -- but somehow I never made it into the dining room for any of them!

[CC Help Michell]

I wanted to update this thread with the link to the photos from our cruise on the Volendam -- http://picasaweb.google.com/michellp08

 

Most of them are of the excursions and ports, but the album about the cruise does have photos of the Volendam (and some other ships in Alaska, including a few of the Westerdam in Glacier Bay), and some of the activities offered on her. Also, a few people had asked about viewing places on the Volendam for glacier days, and the Glacier Bay album, in particular, has photos of the bow and the aft lido deck during our 2 Glacier Bay days.

 

Hopefully folks getting ready to cruise might find this useful. As always, feel free to ask any questions you may have. :)

[KSSTravel]

MichelleP,

 

Thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures! I hope we'll have sunny days like yours. College Fjord is so spectacular with the snow - not sure if it would be the same in late August :confused: , and Emerald Lake is so unreal!